V-rakes have been found to be an effective farm implement for gathering cut agricultural materials into windrows. The V-rake generally includes a primary frame, with a front end adapted to be hitched to a tractor and a back end. A pair of rake arms, which are pivotally connected at the back end of the primary frame, are controlled such that they may be positioned adjacent the primary frame in a closed or traveling position or extended in the form of a V in the opened or raking position. The V-rake is supported by a number of rolling wheels mounted on the primary frame and on the rake arms. Further, each rake arm includes a number of rake wheels, which may be raised when the V-rake is in the traveling position, and lowered when the V-rake is in the raking position.
Examples of rakes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,093 issued Apr. 13, 1962 to van der Lely et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,528 issued Nov. 19, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,252 issued on Apr. 6, 1993 to Peeters; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,643 issued Feb. 27, 1996 to Tonitti; U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,271 issued on Feb. 4, 1997 to Peeters; 5,699,045 issued on May 4, 1999 to Rowse et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,008 issued April 24 to Rowse et al and US Patent Publication 2004/0063265 published May 6, 2004 to Tonutti.
In addition to the description of the basic rakes, these references also describe a variety of rake wheels, as well as control mechanisms for opening and closing the rakes, for raising and lowering the rake wheels, and for adjusting the rake to vary the width of the windrows.
Though these rakes have been in use for some time, it has been found that they do not always satisfy the needs of farmers and ranchers in view of their inherent complexity of operation and their weaknesses. This is particularly true where the rake wheels and the spring assemblies for controlling the height of the rake wheels are concerned. It has also been found that existing mechanisms for adjusting the width of the windrow produced by the rake are ponderous.
As an example, prior art rake wheel assemblies include a center disk with a hub opening and bolt holes by which the rake wheel assembly is attached to a hub. The rake wheel assembly further includes an outer ring with a series of holes equally spaced around its circumference for receiving rake teeth or tines. One end of each tine slides through one of the holes in the outer ring, while plates that are fixed to the center disk by bolts each sandwich the other end of a number of tines. When one of the tines in this rake wheel assembly has to be replaced, the retainer plate has to be removed. When the retainer plate is removed, all of the tines held by the plate become loose and can then fall out of the rake wheel assembly. This process can be very inconvenient, particularly in the field when the rake wheel assembly is in a vertical position.
Further, it has been found that the material being raked has a tendency to wrap itself on the rake wheel assembly due to the spacing between the tines. Attempts have been made to remedy this situation by attaching a piece of hard plastic to the tines on the outside of the rake wheel assembly, however this is not found to be fully satisfactory.
Therefore there is a need for an improved, reliable and easy to operate V-rake.